Ex-Leaf Rob Ramage warns prospects about drunk driving

Former Toronto Maple Leafs captain Rob Ramage arrives at Newmarket court in September 1997 over charges in the impaired driving in the death of ex-NHL player Keih Magnuson in 2003. (Michael Peake/Toronto Sun files)

Only a former Maple Leafs captain like Rob Ramage could pull off such a remarkable comeback.

Ramage, who turned 57 on Jan. 11, was convicted in 2007 for killing his passenger and fellow ex-NHLer, Keith Magnuson, in a drunk-driving crash.

Now he’s using his own horrific experience to warn potential future NHLers about the hazards of drunk driving.

The two-time Stanley Cup champion (with Calgary and Montreal) turned stockbroker is lecturing kids to steer them away from his fatally wrong choice that tarnished his exemplary life.

“He has gone on to make a very positive contribution to the education of young people, lecturing extensively on the dangers of drinking and driving,” his lawyer, Brian Greenspan, told the Toronto Sun.

The Montreal Canadiens confirmed Ramage is lecturing young players and works as a development coach with Habs prospects at the junior and college level along with the club’s American Hockey League affiliate in St. John’s, Nfld. A request for an interview was declined by Ramage through a spokesman for the team.

Ramage, who played with the Leafs from 1989 to 1991, had almost three times the legal limit of alcohol in his system when his rental car swerved into an oncoming SUV on Rutherford Rd. in Woodbridge on Dec. 14, 2003.

He was driving from a funeral reception for ex-NHLer Keith McCreary when the fatal crash occurred.

A jury convicted Ramage and he was sentenced to four years imprisonment for the collision, which killed his pal Magnuson, 56, and inflicted debilitating injuries to another motorist, Michelle Pacheco, then 39. He was released to a halfway house after serving 10 months.

Magnuson’s family had implored sentencing Judge Alexander Sosna to not imprison Ramage. Instead, the family, who received $9.5 million US in an American civil suit against Ramage and the rental company, had suggested he travel North America lecturing young athletes about the dangers of drunk driving.